Veteran sports writer Jim Utter covers NASCAR for The Charlotte Observer and its racing site, ThatsRacin.com. In this space, Jim writes about all things NASCAR and other forms of racing which may also be relevant ... or not.

Wednesday, October 13, 2010

One thing was evident in Wednesday's results of the voting for NASCAR's Hall of Fame Class of 2011, and it was this: There was a significant disconnect between the published voting intentions of members of the NASCAR media (whether "official" voters or not) and the rest of the Voting Panel.

Doesn't it strike anyone else as odd that 90 percent of the media members who made their personal preference choices known ahead of time or right after the vote all basically agreed with four of the five inductees?

David Pearson, Bobby Allison, Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip were selected by virtually anyone in the media who offered an opinion of what the second Hall class should look like.

Yet when the actual vote of the entire panel was compiled Yarborough and Waltrip appeared on less than 45 percent of all voters' ballots.

Even the fan vote, compiled by NASCAR.com, revealed virtually the same thing: Pearson, Allison, Yarborough and Waltrip all found common support.

For some reason, the remainder of the voting panel had a different thought process than most media members and NASCAR fans as a group. I mean generally it's hard to get media and race fans to agree on a lot, but this seemed pretty straight forward.

Yet one large segment of the voting panel thought differently. What did the media and the fans miss?

Some component of recognizing NASCAR's history? Certainly, Yarborough and Waltrip and their respective careers encompass most if not all that has contributed to NASCAR's history.

Is it, as Waltrip suggested, some idea of wanting to recognize people while they are still with us to enjoy it? That's certainly possible. Yet, it seems to me if that were the case, Raymond Parks would have been a shoo-in for the first class.

In any case, no one should be willing to throw the word "lock" around when it comes to any Hall of Fame class for a long time to come.

NASCAR announced on Wednesday the second class of inductees into the NASCAR Hall of Fame. That class consists of: David Pearson, who was named on 94 percent of ballots; Bobby Allison - 62%; Lee Petty - 62%; Ned Jarrett - 58%; and Bud Moore - 45%.

The NASCAR Hall of Fame Voting Panel, consisting of members of the Nominating Committee along with 31 others representing all facets of the NASCAR industry, met in a closed session in Charlotte, N.C., to vote on the induction class of 2011. The announcement was made in the Great Hall inside the NASCAR Hall of Fame.

The class was determined by 53 votes cast by the panel and the nationwide fan vote conducted through NASCAR.com. The accounting firm of Ernst & Young presided over the tabulation of the votes.

The Class of 2011 will be officially inducted in a ceremony in May 2011 at the NASCAR Hall of Fame in Charlotte. Also receiving votes were Dale Inman, Cale Yarborough and Darrell Waltrip.